


Seasons

by Telesilla



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Alternate Universe - College, Character of Color, Community: sticksandsnark, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-03-20
Updated: 2009-03-20
Packaged: 2017-10-04 05:59:20
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,321
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26805
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Telesilla/pseuds/Telesilla
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A year in the lives of Dr. Teyla Emmagen, PhD and Rodney McKay, PT.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Seasons

**Winter**

When the doorbell rang yet again, John took a deep breath and waved at Ronon, who was standing in the dining room. "I've got it," he mouthed and then took the few steps toward the door, bracing himself for yet more professors and academic spouses. It wasn't that he disliked Ronon's colleagues--most of them were actually pretty cool--but he really did prefer to deal with them the way he preferred to deal with everyone these days: in small doses. Hoping his smile didn't look too forced, he opened the door.

"I don't see a ramp. Steps, yeah I see those, but no ramp. Or does this place have a side entrance with a ramp?"

"Hi Rodney," John said. "And a happy holiday to you too. Welcome to my...our new house."

"Which doesn't have a ramp."

John didn't bother to hide his sigh. "Rodney? It's only five steps up from the curb."

"Only? What if you're in a...." To John's surprise, Rodney actually bit back the rest of his sentence as he stepped inside and let the door close behind him. Not that it mattered, John knew what he hadn't said and he was glad he didn't have to tell Rodney _one more time_ that he had no intention of ever using a wheelchair again.

Some of what he was thinking must have shown on his face. "Here," Rodney said, holding up a gold box decorated with a very professional looking maroon velvet bow like it was a peace offering of some kind.

"This is for the party."

John took the box, smiling a little when he saw the embossed Godiva logo on it. "And this?" Rodney held out a plain brown shopping bag. "This is for you and your...whatever he is. Are you two using 'boyfriend' or 'partner?'"

"He's got a name," John said.

"Yeah, well who the hell names their kid something that rhymes with Conan?"

My parents," Ronon said from behind John. He took the box of chocolates from John and grinned at Rodney.

"Did they know you were gonna be six foot...what? Four? Five?"

"Four," John said. "And a half."

"Yes, I'm sure that half inch is useful for intimidating recalcitrant students. Those English majors are a pretty tough bunch, I hear."

"You'd be surprised." Ronon peered over John's shoulder as John opened up the bag "Is that coffee?"

"Yeah," Rodney said. "And it's not that shit from Starbucks, so keep it for yourself. Well, unless I drop by, in which case, I'm all for the sharing." He smirked just a little.

"Thank you," John said, deciding to ignore that last little bit. "Let me get your coat." He reached out with his free hand and Rodney's eyes narrowed.

"John," he said in what John had learned was his serious voice. "Where's your cane?"

"Um...." John gestured vaguely behind him. "Over there, against the wall next to the bookcase."

"Damnit," Rodney began and John winced a little. Oh yeah, he was in for it now.

The doorbell rang and Rodney glared at both John and Ronon as if he suspected them of somehow ringing it from inside the house just to interrupt him.

"Do you mind?" Ronon said mildly. "I need to get the door."

Rodney stepped further into the entryway and opened his mouth. John waited, but no words escaped, which was so unusual that he turned to see who Ronon was greeting.

"Dr. Emmagen, good to see you."

"Happy holidays, John," she said as Ronon took her coat. "And please, away from campus, it is Teyla." She glanced past John with a curious expression on her face.

"Okay, Teyla it is," John said. "Telya, this is Rodney McKay. He's my physical therapist and you just saved me from a lecture about not using my cane." He glanced at Rodney who had managed to close his mouth but still looked a little dazed. "Rodney, this Dr. Teyla Emmagen. She specializes in Nineteenth Century American Women's Literature and has a very low opinion of the Western Canon."

"Well," Rodney said with a dismissive shrug. "Who doesn't, really?" He leaned in and stage whispered to John. "What exactly _is_ the Western Canon?"

Teyla threw back her head and laughed.

"So," Rodney said about a half hour later. He'd forced John to sit down and was perching on the arm of John's chair. Supposedly, he was there to keep John in one place, but John suspected he was hiding from the rest of the guests. "Dr. Emmagen...she's really...."

"Intelligent?" John offered. "Scholarly? A credit to both the English Department and the University?"

"I was going to say 'hot.'"

"Yeah well, you're one class act, McKay."

"It's a gift." Rodney sipped at his drink and frowned a little. "But then, the last time I was at an academic soiree, it was at MIT, so what do I know about this whole Liberal Arts thing?"

"MIT?"

"Yeah, I did a semester there on loan from Cal Tech."

John blinked. "Your degree says Cal State Northridge."

Rodney gave him a look. "Yes, because Cal Tech is known for their high quality physical therapy program." He sighed. "I was going to be an astrophysicist with maybe some engineering on the side, but I experienced some...technical difficulties along the way and why am I telling you this when I'm trying to find out everything you know about Dr. Emmagen so I can stalk her like a crazy stalking thing?"

"You won't get very far with the whole stalking thing," John said, knowing better to ask Rodney anything personal. "Her office is across the hall from Ronon's."

"It would be. Why can't she have an office near that guy's." He jerked his head in a gesture he probably thought was subtle.

"Who, Dr. Fredricks?"

"Is he the short chubby one with the bow-tie?" Rodney rolled his eyes when John nodded. "Can you believe I actually overheard him saying he thought someone was 'obviously interrogating the text from the wrong perspective?' What a pompous ass."

John bit back a laugh at that; pompous ass described Al Fredricks to a T.

"Anyway, about Dr. Emmagen?"

"I don't know her all that well," John said with a shrug. "She's not a pompous ass; she doesn't use a lot of academic buzz words, she's one of the more popular teachers in the department, she got tenure last year and...." He paused for effect.

"And?"

"She's single."

"Yeah, but is she straight?" Rodney gazed off into space for a moment. "Or even bi? I could work with that."

"Straight."

"Really?"

"According to one of the the bumper stickers on the back of her car." John grinned. "The one that says 'straight but not narrow,' not the one that says 'if men could get pregnant, abortion would be a sacrament.'"

"Oh Jesus. Just tell me she's not some kind of walking cliche what with the feminism and the Women's Lit."

"She's really not. She's cool; I like her."

Rodney looked at John for a long moment and then nodded. "Wish me luck," he said, handing John his drink as he stood up.

"You're gonna need it," John said.

Then he remembered the way Teyla had laughed at Rodney's joking around earlier. _Then again, maybe you won't._

* * *

**Spring**

"More flowers?" Ronon asked, watching Teyla try to balance a vase full of bright yellow and white flowers along with her laptop case, her briefcase and a stack of blue books.

"To state the obvious, yes."

He laughed. "You actually went out with him, didn't you?"

The bottom of the vase hit her desk with a thunk, followed by the blue books. "Yes. Yes, I did. And I had a surprisingly good time."

"Damn." Ronon grinned at her as she arched an eyebrow at him. "Couldn't you have said no at least a few more times? I owe John twenty bucks now." He ducked back into his office and poured her a cup of coffee.

"So," he asked, handing it over. "Where'd you go?"

"We compromised on Mahler at the symphony and dinner at The Naked Fish."

"Mahler?" Ronon stared at her. "You put up with an evening of _Mahler_ to have dinner with _Rodney McKay_ at a restaurant you go to at least once a week?"

John, Ronon reflected, was right. This whole thing was far more serious than Ronon had imagined.

"I have never really listened to Mahler; it was actually not as bad as I had feared."

"I've never heard you listening to any kind of classical music at all."

"Fair enough. Rodney went through my CDs in the car and made fun of my Indigo Girls," she said with a slight smile. "I got him to agree to see them in concert if he got to pick the restaurant."

"So you're telling me is that it's turning into a relationship based on, what? Cultural compromise?"

"I thought," she replied dryly, "that was you and John."

And yeah, that was a pretty good description, Ronon mused. It wasn't that John was a student, or even that he was a good ten years (and a little more) older than Ronon. It was everything else; John was white and came out of the establishment and the military and Ronon...wasn't and didn't.

"John likes him," he said, trying to get back to Rodney. "Well actually, he says Rodney's a real asshole, but he says it affectionately and to be honest, I think Rodney does more for John than...some of the other people he sees."

_Like the totally overworked VA shrinks who figure that since he's not a crazed psycho killer, he's fine._

"He is very straightforward," Teyla said and then laughed. "Which usually translates into rudeness, but still, there is something about him...." She shrugged. "And he is not stupid; he has a degree in physics and was pursuing a PhD at Cal Tech."

"Oh?" Rodney hadn't struck Ronon as the academic type at all and he didn't like what it said about himself that he immediately thought better of Rodney. "What happened?"

"That is not my story to tell."

They were both silent for a while and then Ronon deliberately broke it with a somewhat nervous laugh. "Do you want me to threaten to beat him up if he hurts you?"

"I thought you were a pacifist."

"Well yeah, I didn't say I _would_ beat him up. But he doesn't know that."

"I think," she said, smiling up at him, "I can handle this on my own."

And really, there wasn't anything Ronon could say to that.

* * *

**Summer**

"Okay," Rodney, before getting out of the car. "I took my allergy medications and some Sudafed and I've got Benedryl with me, but if I start to have trouble breathing...."

"I will leave you to breathe out your last among the roses," Teyla said.

"Heartless woman." But he smiled at her and took her hand as they crossed the parking lot. "Have I mentioned that Nature and I don't always get along?"

"If that is what you meant when you said, 'I hate the outdoors,' then yes, you have."

"If there's one advantage in going out with an English professor, it's got to be the way you're so good at picking up on my subtleties."

"Whereas I am in this relationship solely for the back rubs."

He started to speak and then went silent, and at first, Teyla thought it had something to do with the careful, symmetrical beauty of the formal garden stretched out before them. When he still said nothing as they walked along the sandy path, she looked over at him.

"Rodney?"

"Is this...do you think we're...." He shook his head. "I suck at this; I know I told you that."

He had and while she liked the way he had no trouble laughing at himself, she'd found that bit of self-deprecation a little annoying. He wasn't nearly as bad with people as he thought; John Sheppard was hardly the only person who thought the world of Rodney's brand of physical therapy.

"Are we in a relationship?"

"We have been dating for several months now," she said, suddenly afraid that he didn't see things the way she did.

"Well yes, but.... I didn't want to assume. You're so...."

"So?"

He looked around and shook his head. "Is there somewhere around here where we can sit out of the sun and talk?"

She know the Botanical Gardens well and in a matter of minutes, they were sitting on a comfortable, shaded bench that looked out over a pond crowded with lily pads and other water flora. It was the middle of the day on a weekday and they seemed to have this corner of the Gardens all to themselves.

"I didn't exactly tell you the truth," he said after a long moment. "Or at least not all of it. Yes, I was in an accident that caused me to rethink my priorities and yes, I went into physical therapy because I wouldn't be as able as I am without the very good therapist I had, but...." He took a deep breath.

"There was some brain damage. There were things I knew that I don't know any more, a spark, if you will, that's not there. I used to be brilliant, you know. I was the _wunderkind_ of cutting edge physics; everyone assumed I'd have a Nobel before I hit fifty."

"Oh," she said softly, not wanting to interrupt, but needing to say something. She reached out and took his hand again, and he clung to her, his grip tight around her fingers.

"I remember what it was like to have insights, and obviously, it's not like I'm a drooling moron or anything, but there's a gap there. It's like aphasia in a way, like reaching for a word and knowing you know the word, but no matter how you try, you can't say it." He seemed to realize he was crushing her fingers and loosened his grip somewhat.

"It must be hard," she said quietly. "Coming to campus to pick me up."

"It was the first few times. I'm just glad you're not a scientist."

"You are very brave." He looked startled and Teyla smiled a little. "And not just because you face the terrors of the English Department."

"I quit for a while. Just...holed up in my apartment and stared at the ceiling." He surprised her by laughing just a little. "Depression is actually kind of boring; I need to be doing things. And physical therapy is about as far from theoretical physics as possible."

Still a little unsure of what to say, she leaned over and kissed him lightly. They'd kissed before, but this one felt different, felt meaningful in some way.

"Yes," she murmured, still close enough to him that her lips brushed his as she spoke. "I think this is a relationship."

* * *

**Fall**

"I liked the one with the big garden," Teyla said as Rodney came out of the bathroom. "It is in desperate need of painting, however."

"And it only has a bath and a half," Rodney said. "If you mean the yellow one."

"Do we need more than that?"

"Not sure," Rodney said, leaning in the doorway. "But you have to admit that that was a really small half-bathroom."

"True."

He watched as she shuffled through her notes and the other paperwork they'd picked up over the course of the day.

"What about that blue one? It was kind of big, but that means you can have a home office that isn't also the guest bedroom." Even as he spoke, he waited for the panic to start up. Outside of a roommate during his first year at college, he'd never lived with anyone. And here he was, getting serious about renting a house, which, really when you thought about it, was the first step on a slippery slope that led to things like weddings and college tuition funds.

He wasn't sure what was more scary, the search for a house or the fact that he actually wasn't as freaked out about the whole thing as he thought he should be.

"Are you sure about this?" The words slipped out before he could stop them and he waited for her to get exasperated.

"Yes," she said. "I am as sure now as I was...."

She paused and he blinked at her in surprise, waiting for the rest of it.

"Rodney? Come here."

It only took a few steps to reach the bed; once he did, she took hold of his hand and tugged hard, not hard enough for him to lose his balance, but enough that he got the idea and let himself be pulled down onto the bed. Sliding a hand up his back, Teyla pulled him down even further and kissed him hard.

Even after a day spent driving around town looking at houses, she still smelled good and once the kiss was over, he buried his face in her neck and breathed in deeply before turning his head a little and kissing her neck. She sighed and shivered under him when he reached that one spot, just below her ear, and he nipped at it carefully, not wanting to leave a mark.

As they both twisted to get into a better position, he heard the papers she'd had scattered on the bed slide off and hit the floor. _Not blue books or tests,_ he thought. _Let 'em stay there._

Her hands were sliding under his shirt while he tried to undo the buttons on her jeans, and after a few, clumsy minutes involving some flailing, he finally sat up a little. "One of us is going to end up with a broken nose or a black eye," he said a little breathlessly. She laughed and then started undressing; Rodney stared appreciatively for a moment and then started tearing off his own clothes as fast as he could.

Pressing him back onto the bed once they were naked, Teyla leaned over him and kissed him again. "Like this?" he asked when she pulled back a little.

"Yes," she murmured, and he reached for her hips, his fingers pressing into her smooth skin as she straddled him. She bent to kiss him again and he slid his hand between them and up until he could tease her clit with his thumb.

"Ohhhhh," she moaned, resting her forehead against his.

"Yeah?"

She was wet already, but he didn't let up until she finally grabbed his shoulders and glared just a little. "Rodney!"

It was his turn to moan as she slid down over him, hot and slick around his cock. Keeping her hands on his shoulders, she began to move, but when he tried to move with her, she stopped. "Let me," she said and he almost laughed.

"Like I'm gonna say no?"

She did laugh and he grinned back at her as she rode him. Teyla was the first person he'd met who laughed during sex and it was one of the many reasons he loved her. With her, sex was _fun_.

They were both panting hard when he moved his hand between them again. "Yes," she said as he pressed his fingers against her clit. "Yes...like that...oh oh!"

He bit his lip and managed to hold off as she came, but then she was moving faster, her fingers digging into his shoulders and he couldn't help it. Thrusting up into her, once and then again, he came with a long drawn out groan.

She collapsed on him and he had enough strength left to wrap his arms around her. "God," he gasped, "that was...thank you."

"That," she said, lifting her head a little to look him in the eye, "is my final word on the matter."

"Huh?"

"You asked if I was sure." She kissed him gently. "Yes. Yes, I am."

_-end-_

**Author's Note:**

> One of the things [](http://nacbrie.livejournal.com/profile)[**nacbrie**](http://nacbrie.livejournal.com/) asked for was "a complete AU" and this just jumped out at me. It could be considered a continuation of my [ficlet in which Ronon's a college professor and John's a disabled vet](http://telesilla.livejournal.com/720678.html#cutid2), but it also stands alone. [](http://nacbrie.livejournal.com/profile)[**nacbrie**](http://nacbrie.livejournal.com/), I'm terribly sorry this was delayed; there were some life complications. Many thanks to [](http://darkrosetiger.livejournal.com/profile)[**darkrosetiger**](http://darkrosetiger.livejournal.com/) for her help.


End file.
